If your job feels tense, your dog may be feeling it too.
New research Featured in Scientific Reports Discover how stress from work can affect your dog at home.
A study led by Tanya Mitropoulos and Allison Andrukonis shows that when dog owners stay in work issues with habits known as “work-related anti-mission,” their pets show more signs of stress.
Researchers looked into the owners of 85 working dogs. They are Measured job stress And the frequency with which people kept thinking about work during their free time. They then asked the stressed owner how their dog thought and tracked actual behaviors related to dog stress, such as whining, pacing and restlessness.
The woman says the dog detected breast cancer before the doctor did: “He’s always known this.”
The stressed office worker on the left sits on his laptop and covers his face. On the right, the black Labrador retriever appears visibly worried. A new study found that work stress can affect dogs through emotional contagion and work-related anti-mission. (Getty Images)
This study found that owners who are more stressed at work had dogs who exhibited more stress-related behaviors. That link continued to get stronger, even as researchers explained other stresses in the home. Interestingly, owners were not always aware that their dog was stressed out. It was the behavior of the puppy that told the story.
What are the major factors driving connections? Ruminating. It is likely that owners who have mentally brought their work home have it Stress-out dog. Thinking about work from a watch seemed to spread stress from humans to pets.
This idea is known as a “crossover” when one person’s stress spills over others in the house. Previous studies have shown that this occurs between spouses, and now there is evidence that it can occur between people and pets.
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The dog sits on a hardwood floor with a sad expression. New research shows that dogs can absorb the stress of their owners’ work through emotional clues and changes in daily life. (Getty Images)
Dogs are particularly sensitive to their owner’s mood. Scientists call this “emotional contagion.” This is the idea that dogs can pick up human emotions through voice, body language, and other subtle clues. Dogs will notice when owners are distracted or irritated from work stress. Over time, this can affect your dog’s well-being.
The study also proposes another explanation. When people are focusing on work issues, they may have less patience and may be farther away or less consistent with routines like walking or feeding. Such changes in care can also increase stress in dogs.
Woman pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration while working from home. A 2025 study published in Scientific Reports linked job stress with anti-mination to signs of stress in pet dogs. (Getty Images)
The author points out that Americans overwhelmingly view their pets as part of their family. It makes it even more important to understand how our actions affect them.
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Researchers say that “I’m employed Dog owner To protect the happiness of human best friends, you may benefit from avoiding work-related anti-mination when you are at home. ”
Putting work aside as you walk through the door doesn’t just help your health. That will help your dog too.
